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The Tennessean

An affiliate of national homebuilder Lennar Homes is pursuing a 4.4-acre tract off Franklin Pike for its first Nashville-area apartment community.

Lennar Multifamily Communities LLC is expected to submit site plans this month to Berry Hill city officials for a project with 320 to 360 apartment units. The community is planned on properties owned by Sonic Automotive Inc., which includes the location at 2350 Franklin Pike that the car dealership operator inherited with its purchase of Thoroughbred Motors nearly six years ago.

Berry Hill is attractive to apartment developers because it is outside the downtown core but offers access to the Gulch, 12th Avenue South and other emerging residential markets.

ďAs land has gotten expensive and is less available in those areas, this is one of the next logical steps out,Ē said Woody McLaughlin, a longtime member of the Greater Nashville Apartment Association who owns and invests in apartments. ďItís a block of land thatís large enough in an area that itís not easy to assemble something that might accommodate 250 to 300 units, which is the economic scale people are looking for today.Ē

Joe Baker, city manager for Berry Hill, attributed the interest in that area to large parcels, including former car dealership sites coming to the market, and development moving eastward from the 12South area. ďPeople are paying more attention to the Eighth Avenue South area now,Ē he added.

Directly north of the site where Lennar Multifamily plans to build the community is 23Hundred at Berry Hill. Bluerock Real Estate LLC and Nashville-based Stonehenge Real Estate Group are co-developers of that 266-unit apartment building at the former Beaman Lincoln-Mercury dealership at 2300 Franklin Pike. About 45 units are occupied, with the others under construction, said Todd Jackovich, a Stonehenge principal.

Four blocks away, 220 apartment units are under construction at The Melrose, a mixed-used development that includes retail space at Franklin Pike and Kirkwood Avenue. The first residents should start to move in the building in February, said Ed Fulcher, co-developer along with Joe Parkes Jr.

The properties Lennar Multifamily is pursuing are bounded to the west by Franklin Pike, south by Craighead Street and north by Melpark Drive. In addition to 2350 Franklin Pike, they include two smaller parcels at 725 Melpark and 731 Melpark that are also owned by Sonicís SRE Tennessee-4 LLC.

Jaguar of Nashville is at 2350 Franklin Pike but is expected to move. In August, Sonic relocated Porsche of Nashville from there to Mallory Lane in Brentwood. Audi Nashville also moved to Brentwood last month.

Officials with Lennar Multifamily and Sonic Automotive didnít return calls seeking comment. But in November, Lennar submitted a concept plan for the apartment development with Sonicís blessings that included 360 apartment units and a six-level parking deck with about 545 spaces.

At a Berry Hill planning commission meeting last month, commissioners suggested that Lennar include retail space at the proposed development, but the company said it wanted to keep the entire project multifamily. Commissioners asked Lennar to modify its plans to reduce density and address street and intersection improvement issues before resubmitting.

Under current zoning for the property, Lennar can build up to five floors on the main tract fronting Franklin Pike at 2350 Franklin Pike, but it is restricted to three floors on parcels fronting Melpark. If Lennar designs its project within those guidelines, the company can seek administrative approval for its site plan, rather than having to resubmit a concept plan to the planning commission again, said Baker, Berry Hillís city manager.

A year ago, Miami-based Lennar Corp. said it was expanding into rental housing to capitalize on rising rents and growing demand for apartments. In Charlotte, N.C., Lennar Multifamily Communities and partner Ram Real Estate of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., are building 261-unit apartment complex The Crest at Metropolitan and plan to start leasing by year-end.